Page 52 of How to Trust a Hellhound
Humans—they had such short lives, but they still wanted to take their time about things. I understood the frustration my boys had faced in courting mortal mates.
All the boys were making their way toward the house, and Idecided to go meet Josh at the cabin and walk with him. He was coming out the door as I walked up, and his smile lit up the afternoon. He came straight to me and let me wrap him in a hug, and he melted into my arms. I knew Josh could be hesitant about physical proximity after what had happened to him, but I could also sense he was touch-starved, and I was glad he trusted me.
He sighed and pulled away, and we started walking. I grabbed his hand to hold onto, and he sent me another beautiful smile.
“Why the family meeting? Do you think they won’t be accepting for some reason?” Josh asked.
I hummed thoughtfully. “It isn’t that, exactly. She’s just a bit more of a wild card than the boys are used to, and they might need to exercise a little tact in dealing with her.”
Josh snorted at that, and I tended to agree with him. Tact was not a strong point for my boys.
We made it to the house and everyone sat in the living room. I think Josh would have distanced himself, but I pulled him down to sit close to me. I told the boys about Thea—that she was human-raised and hadn’t changed forms until recently, that she thought she was a sociopath who killed bad people, and that she wasn’t trusting. I also told them that the messenger angel and his demon apprentice had given me the message that I ought to find her, so some afterlifer had an invested interest in her. The boys let me talk, and they were silent for a moment when I finished.
Of course, that didn’t last.
“Wait, since when does the archangel Gabriel have a demon apprentice for delivering messages? I thought angels and demons didn’t fraternize that often,” Liam commented.
“Dude—focus,” Jude cut in. “Who cares about afterlifers? I wanna know how come I never knew there were female hellhounds.”
“Where do you think I came from, idiot?” Dexter asked, rolling his eyes.
“A hellhound dad and human mum, just like the rest of us,” Jude answered.
“My mother wasn’t human,” Corbin cut in.
“Yeah, but she wasn’t a hellhound, either,” Liam reasoned. “I thought there were only a handful of first gen female hellhounds, but that all second gen hellhounds were born male.”
Jude motioned to Liam. “Yeah. What he said.”
Everyone looked at me, but I wasn’t sure what to answer. I hated not having all the answers. Josh reached over and took my hand. I gave him a squeeze in return.
“I have never known of a second gen female hellhound, and many of the first gen hellhounds would identify as nonbinary. It isn’t unusual to have no knowledge of a female hellhound. That makes Thea all the more extraordinary, and all the more alone in the world, as well,” I answered.
The boys all looked at me, and I don’t think they knew what to make of that. Luckily, Josh took over.
“That means that you have to benice. Maybe treat her like another human for a while until you figure out what she’s comfortable talking about or seeing.” Josh looked at Atlas. “And no turning into a flamy dog in front of her. Or being naked.”
“Was just being helpful,” Atlas grumbled.
Josh just shot him a look, then gave each of the boys a stare in response. “That means being on good behavior. Benice.”
They all nodded their heads in agreement.
“Let our human packmates know. We’ll have to figure out a place for her to stay, too,” I added.
“She can stay with me,” Josh answered.
Everyone turned to stare at him.
“What? I’m pretty normal and very human, and there are two bedrooms in the cabin. She seemed nice on the phone, and she might not be comfortable staying withyou guys—no offense.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” I mused, “but I’m not sure you should be staying with a relatively unknown hellhound.”
“Wilder can stay at the cabin, too,” Corbin volunteered.
Josh turned a little pink at that and gripped my hand more tightly. I didn’t sense distress or disagreement from him, but it never hurt to check.
“As long as Josh doesn’t mind, I would love to stay with him,” I said, looking over at him.
